UCL 18-19: 3 reasons this might be the best chance for an English team to win
Since the 2008-09 season of the UEFA Champions League, this is the first time that four English clubs have qualified for the quarter-finals. Chelsea was the last English club to lift the most prestigious club competition in Europe by beating Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties back in the 2011-12 season.
Last week, Tottenham and Manchester United defeated their opponents and, this week, Manchester City demolished Schalke 04 7-0 while Liverpool thumped Bayern 3-1 in their own backyard, to join the pot of final eight alongside Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax and Porto.
Here are the three reasons why this might be the best chance for an English club to make a statement in the biggest European stage of football.
#3 Lack of clear-cut favourites
The Champions League has recently been dominated by the Spanish teams. Barcelona or Real Madrid, who have won this competition seven times in the last 10 years. This time though, Barcelona is only the representative in the quarter-finals from Spain after an early elimination of Real Madrid from the round of 16 at the hands of Ajax.
This is probably the first time in recent Champions League history that there are no clear-cut favourites to lift the title. Juventus looked vulnerable in the first leg against Atlético Madrid while Barcelona looked far from convincing in their tie against Lyon. The Spanish club could only get a goalless draw away to the French side and had to rely on the brilliance of Lionel Messi to win the second leg, 5-1.
It gives an indication that the competition is wide open, and this might be the year when we can see the rise of a new champion.